Instant Takeaways From Atlanta's Summer League Loss To Memphis

That was quite a Summer League Game.

The Atlanta Hawks came into tonight's game resting most of their more talented players and the Grizzlies wanted to continue playing their top guys. The result was an ugly Summer League game (ugly game of basketball period) and Atlanta is no longer undefeated in Las Vegas.

Let's dig into the biggest takeaways.

1. Embarrassing Start and Performance

In the past few months, the Atlanta Hawks have given us some of the worst first quarters you can possibly imagine.

In game six of their first round series against the New York Knicks, the Hawks fell behind 40-15 after the first quarter and suffered one of the worst blowouts in franchise history. While the NBA playoffs and Summer League are two very different things, both were incredibly embarrassing starts.

Memphis led Atlanta 32-2 at the end of the first quarter.

No, I am not making that up.

The Grizzlies raced out to a 21-0 start before the Hawks were able to score their first and only bucket of the quarter. It was an embarrassing start for the Hawks, no matter who was on the floor and despite their strong play over the last week, this is going to sting.

2. Hawks resting their top players

When I say that the Hawks were resting their most talented players, I mean it.

Kingston Flemings, Asa Newell, Zuby Ejiofor, Jacob Toppin, RayJ Dennis, and Keshon Gilbert did not play tonight for Atlanta. If you do not keep up with the Hawks, that is three first-round picks, two current two-way contract players for the team, and one former two-way contract for the Hawks.

In a Summer League setting, that is a lot of firepower to be missing and it set the Hawks up for failure tonight given that Memphis was playing Cedric Coward, Cameron Boozer, and other legitimate NBA talents.

To be fair, the Hawks played in the Salt Lake City Summer League before coming to Las Vegas and the last thing that Atlanta wants to do is put too many miles on their guys too soon. Flemings, Ejiofor, and Newell are going to be real factors for the team this season, while Dennis and Gilbert are already under contract and will likely spend a lot of time playing in the G-League again.

Atlanta has clearly liked what they have seen from those players so far in Summer League and wants to keep them as healthy as possible, which is understandable. At the same time, it would have been nice to see these guys get reps and continue to compete and try to get better.

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